Defiant Freddie: 'Houston is NOT going to define Browns season'

Thursday

Freddie Kitchens talks Bruce Arians, Baker Mayfield and getting back to where the Browns were when they won two straight games.

BEREA It's a million miles to January, and Freddie Kitchens is going only so far with Bruce Arians questions.

Arians has suggested he will bring back Kitchens as offensive coordinator if he is hired as Cleveland's head coach.

"I didn't give any thought to it at all," Kitchens said of the comment on Thursday, after another practice as the Browns' interim "OC."

Kitchens did go on a bit about Arians.

"B.A. and I go way back," he said. "He coached me at Alabama. We've had some cocktails together. I consider him a good friend and a good mentor."

Arians was offensive coordinator at Alabama in 1997 when Kitchens was a senior quarterback. It was just one season (Kitchens also started in 1995 and '96, but Arians wasn't with him until '97), and the team went 4-7. But they hit it off.

Kitchens was on Arians' Arizona Cardinals staff from 2013-17. Kitchens jokes about Arians enjoying play-calling too much for his own coordinator's comfort.

In some respects, Kitchens is having the time of his life. He had just replaced Todd Haley as the 2018 Browns' play caller when Arians was in town to analyze the Browns-Chiefs game for CBS. It was the day Arians told us only a job offer from Cleveland might entice him out of retirement.

For his part as a first-time coordinator, Kitchens came out smokin'.

These were the outcomes in the first six series from each of his first three games:

- Against Kansas City: Punt, field goal, TD, TD, blocked punt, TD.

- Against Atlanta: Punt, TD, pick, TD, TD, TD.

- At Cincinnati: TD, TD, TD, TD, TD, punt.

Just like that, Kitchens was the hottest thing to come out of Tuscaloosa since Joe "Willie" Namath.

Then the Houston game happened. It was over before the Browns ever got to a sixth series. The first five: Punt, punt, pick, pick, pick.

Kitchens knew what might be coming.

"This is a week-to-week business here," he said before hopping on a plane. "Next week, we are going to be either riding high or we're going to be 'the worst team in the NFL.'"

Coming off a game at Cincinnati in which the Browns led 35-7, funny Freddie was everybody's favorite new face.

Coming off a blowout in which the Browns trailed 262-74 in first-half yardage, he is back in the boat the Browns have been rowing since 1999.

What happened against Romeo Crennel's Houston defense?

"They had won eight straight games," Kitchens said. "They have three prime-time players and some other really good players. They probably have the best front seven in football. And it was at their place.

"It was the first taste they've had of that type of atmosphere."

By "they," Mayfield meant his players, starting with Baker Mayfield, who wasn't yet playing in September when the Browns faced a similar challenge at New Orleans.

Kitchens seems not to think Mayfield's three-interception first half scarred his psyche.

"Baker's definitely a leader," Kitchens said. "He realizes you can help even when you're struggling a little bit.

"He made three bad decisions in the first half. I don't know what kid of records he set in the second half."

At halftime, Mayfield had only two more completions than interceptions. His 46 passing yards were 10 fewer than Houston had in returns of picks.

In the second half, Mayfield went 24-of-30 for 351 yards. Kitchens didn't see it as garbage time.

"That game can go a long way in learning how people are going to play Baker and understanding how people are going to play him," Kitchens said. "He is a rookie, so he's got a learning curve there. That was evident, but I was very, very happy with the way he came back."

Mayfield will be tested Sunday by a Carolina defense whose ringleader is cerebral linebacker Luke Kuechly.

"If Baker forgets a call," Kitchens said, "Luke will be able to make it for him."

It remains to be seen whether Houston will impact Kitchens' job profile.

"Gene Stallings (one of his head coaches at Alabama) told me a long time ago, 'If you want another job, do well with the one you have,'" Kitchens said. "I am just doing my job right now.”

Kitchens' schemed at Houston against Crennel, who won three Super Bowls as a coordinator in New England.

"I don't know that Houston did anything we weren't prepared for," Kitchens said. "I would have done a couple more runs early."

Kitchens comes off as a sensible fellow who understands all the scenarios, including having to pack his bags after the season. He seems to like it where he is.

"One game not going to define our season," he said. "Houston is not going to define our season."

Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

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